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SPEECH p.^ 






DELIVERED m 

THE SEBTATB OF THE UNITED STATES, 

FEBRUARY 3d, 1830, 

IN THE DEBATE WHICH AROSE 

UPON 
RELATIVE TO THE 



S>WIBILII(S ILAEflD^^ 



.'S*<^ r *^5-i-J.t*i> 



WASHINGTON : 

PRINTES BT PETER FORCE, CORNER OF FENNSTLVAKIA ATEIfVB 
AND ELEVENTH STREET. 

1830. 



'4 ^%A^ 



t»EC 9 191« 



SPEECH OF MR. SPRAGUE, OF MAINE. 



IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. 
February, 3, 1830. 



Mr. Foot's Resolution concerning the further survey and 
sale of the Public Lands being under consideration — 

Mr. SPRAGUE said, it ivas with reluctance that he entered into this 
extraordinary debate. The gentleman who had just resumed his seat 
(Mr. Benton) had most gratuitously given to it an unpleasant sectional 
character. Some portion of his remarks related merely to measures of 
a party, in opposition to the administration of Mr. Jefferson and Mr. 
Madison. Had he confined himself to those acts, I should not have felt 
myself constrained to participate in the discussion, because I was from 
the first politically opposed to them, and have never changed my senti- 
ments. I mention this, that the position which I occupy may be dis- 
tinctly understood. Animadversions upon party measures affect no par- 
ticular geographical division of the country, but only the individuals 
who sustained them, wherever they may reside. . But the gentlemen 
has asssaiied all the Northern States, and particularly those of New 
England ; accusing them of narrow views, and of systematic hostility, 
and injustice toward the West ; while, on the other hand, he has laud- 
ed the South as her generous, liberal, and magnanimous friend. Such 
assertions, in order to gain any credence, must be supported by proof, 
of this, the gentlemen, seems to have been aware, and has accordingly 
attempted to sustain them by a recurrence to historical facts. I shall 
endeavor concisely to remark upon such as appear to be of importance 
enough to deserve attention, and which have been stated with sufficient 
distinctness to render them susceptible of being followed. 

He has gone back to the days of the Old Confederation, and the re- 
cords of the Continental Congress, and dwelt upon certain proceedings, 
in 1786, relative to the defence of what was then the Western District 
of Virginia— now the State of Kentucky. A proposition was made to 
send two companies of federal troops to the Rapids of the Ohio. It is to 
be recollected that we had just then emerged from the war of the Revo- 
lution ; that tremendous struggle in which we had strained every nerve 
to agony, and had sunk down to a state of exhaustion — destitute of mo- 
ney — without revenue, and without credit. To send two companies to 
the then distant wilderness on the Ohio, was a severer burden upon the 
public finances, than to send thousands now to the mouth of the Colum- 
bia. Upon this proposition, the votes of New England were equally 
divided. During its pendency, on the 21st of June, a motion was made 
by Mr. Lee, a delegate from Virginia, to add two companies more, mak- 
ing four in all, /or her defence, which was supported by that State alone, 
allthe delegates from the other States, excepting one from Georgia, 
answering in the negative. 



It was upon his stating this vote, that the gentleman exclaimed, m 
tones of delight and exultation — Magnanimous Virginia — Ay ! 

She is a great and rnignanimoii!) State I would not detract aught from 
her merits. New England seeks not to prostrate the fabric of others' 
fame, in order to erect her own from its fragments ; she is rich enough 
in her own splendid materials. But the gentleman has not been fortu- 
nate in selecting this vote, givenyor her ou-n exclusive benefit against all 
the other States, as an illustration of her disinterestedness and liberality. 
To attribute in this instance so great merit to her, is an implicntion of 
demerit in all the others, which I leave to be repelled by their older a.id 
abler representatives around me. 

On the 29th of June, eight days only after the almost unanimous re- 
fusal of Congress to send more than the two companie'^ to the defence 
of Virginia, a committee consisting of two members from th.it State, and 
one from Massachusetts, made a report in favor of authorizing the Com- 
mander of those two companies, to march into the Indian country and make 
war. or treat for peace, as he should see tit ; and, also to call, at his plea- 
sure, upon the Governor of V^irginia, for one thousand militia This report 
being under debate, a motion was made to postpone it for the present, in 
order to take up another proposition, which, after reciting that there 
was not sufficient evidence of Indian depredations " to justify carrymg 
*' war into their country," recommended the adoption, '■• -wilhout de- 
lay,'''' of "such measures as shall effectually ^^ecure peace to the Indi- 
"ans, and safety to the citizens inhabiting the frontiers of the United 
" States " This motion, the Senator from Missouri pronounced " cold- 
" blooded, cruel and inhuman — equalled only by the National \ssembly 
" of the French Revolution ; which, when their fellow citizens were 
" falling around them by the d.aggers of assassins, passed to the 
*' orders of the day." It was made by Mr Pettit of Pennsylvania, and 
there were more votes for it out of New England than from within it. 

But if the gentleman's sensibilities were so much outraged by the idea 
of passing over that report in favor of war and bloodshed, even for a 
moment, m order to take up a substitute of peace and security, what 
will he say, how will he bear the shock, when he finds that a motion 
was made — not by a delegate from New England, nor even from the 
North of the Potomac ; but from the South, from Georgia, to postpone 
the whole for six days ; and that there were no less than fifteen voices 
in the affirmative, and two thirds of them from without the limits of New 
England ! Nay, more, that this very report, which it was so monstrous 
and horrible to hesitate even for a moment in adopting, was upon the 
final question, absolutely rejected, and that too, not by a bare majority 
of the Congress, but by a vote of two to one — six States to three ; and 
of the six, two only being from the North East! And of the individual 
delegates, seventeen voted in the afl'irmative, and nine only in the neg- 
ative ; Mr. Houston, of Georgia, being excused at his own request! 

I have been accustomed, sir, from my earliest recollections, to cher- 
ish the memory of those who composed the Continental Congress with 
reverence and gratitude. I have supposed that the very existence of 
this great, prosperous and happy Republic, demonstrated the elevation 
of their mtellectual and moral character, their wisdom, purity and be- 
oeficence j — that their monuments were every where but over their 



graves. Is all this illusion ? Is their epitaph still to be written ? And 
shall we now inscribe npon iheir tomb — here lie the meiubers of the Con- 
tinental Congress nf \lQ6—lhnse cold blooded, cruel, inhuman monsters, 
m:ho arc to be paralleled in all history onlij by the fiends of the French Rev- 
olution, zvho -Jiashed their hands in the blood of their brethren ! ! 

There are some exniri^erations. too extravagant even for the figures 
of rhetoric or the tictions ot* poetry. 

My own section of country might be well content to appear sombre 
and unlovely to that vision which run present the revered patriots of 
the Revolution in colors so dark, and with features so distorted. 

The next topic of crimination against our forefathers, was a clause 
originally inserted in the ordinance for ascertaining the mode ofdi-pos- 
ing of lands in the western country, when it was reported by a Com- 
mittee, in 1785, and which prohibited the sale, by the public officer, of 
a second township, by sections, until after all the first should have been 
disposed of It arose from an evident solicitude for the security of the 
frontier settlers, and a desire to keep them in some measure compact, 
that they might be competent to their own protection, instead of scatter- 
ing over immense forests beyond the reach of timely succour. This is 
well known to have been the policy of Washington. It is not a little 
singular that the gentleman should have made this a theme of reiterated 
and vehement condemnation, when he had just before complained so 
loudly of an alleged indifference to the safety of the new settlements. 
He insists that a majority of the committee lived north of the Potomac, 
and that their object was to stint the growth of the West He did not 
tell us who composed it. [Mr. Benton explained by reading the name? 
of a committee consisting of one from each State, A. D. 1785.] Mr. 
S. proceeded The committee, which the gentleman had just named 
was not that which originally reported the ordinance, but one to whom 
it was subsequently referred, aud who do not appear to have made any 
amendments or alterations. It was, 1 believe, first reported in May, 
1784, by a committee consisting of Mr. Jefferson, of Virginia, William- 
son, of North Carolina, Reed, of South Carolina, Howell, of Rhode Is- 
land, and Gerry, of Massachusetts ; and its paternity is thus transferred 
to the south side of the Potomac. It was not finally acted upon during 
that session ; and at the commencement of the next session, in Novem- 
ber, 1785, all the unfinished business of the preceding was taken up. and 
this appears to have been subsequently referred to the large committee 
which the gentleman has mentioned. But the justice and charity with 
vphich sinister motives are attributed to the North, is further illustrated 
by the fact, that upon the motion of Mr. McHenry to strike out this obnox- 
ious clause, every member, with the single exception of Mr Howell, of 
Rhode island, answered in the atFirraative ; and yet it is insisted that the 
North, who had the whole perfectly in their power, were wickedly in- 
tent upon it as a means to cramp the growth of the West ; and were de- 
feated only by those of a more magnanimous region. 

By the same ordinance, one third part of all the mines of gold, silver, 
copper and lead, were in all sales to be reserved to the Government. 
Upon a motion to strike out this reservation, and thus leave the whole 
to the purchasers, Massachusetts was divided, Rhode Island divided, 
sad all the other States and all the other delegates, excepting Mr. Mod- 



roe answered in the negative. This instance of comparative liberality 
seems to have wholly escaped the gentleman's observation. 

Strange as it may seem, it has in this Debate, been made matter of 
loud and bitter complaint, that the United States have sold the Public 
Lands for money — have coined the soil into £:old and silver, as it was ex- 
pressed. The right and the obligation of the Government to do this, 
have been so unanswerably established by the gentleman from Massa- 
chusetts, (Mr. Webster,) that 1 shall not discuss it. It would be use- 
less, indeed, for me to follow where is seen the giant's track. I shall 
endeavour, throughout, to avoid the ground which he has occupied. 1 
will only now add, that however illiberal some persons may now consi- 
der the selling, instead of giving away this common property of the na- 
tion, it is not a mere Yankee notion, nor even confined to the wrong side 
Mason's and Dixon's line ; but has, from the first been insisted upon by of 
the statesmen of the more congenial South. In February, 1786, a com- 
mittee of Congress, consisting of Messrs. Pinckney, of South Carolina, 
McKean, of South Carolina, Monroe, of Virginia, King, of Massachusetts, 
and Pettit, of Pennsylvania, held the following language .- We " contem- 
'' plate with great satisfaction the prospect of extinguishing a part of the 
" domestic debt, by the sales of the Western lands, bu,. acnnsiderabletime 
"must elapse," kc. And in the Virginia Convention in 1788, Mr. Har- 
rison said, "the back lands and imposts will be sufficient for all the exigen- 
' cies of Government." Mr. Grayson .«poke of the " domestic debt being 
" diminished by the sale of Western lands;'' and Mr. M;idison, speaking of 
the Mississippi, said, " a material consideration was, that the cession of 
<' that river would diminish the value of the Western country, which 
" was a common jund for the United States, and would consequently tend 
" to impoverish their public treasury. Tliese, Sir, were rational grounds.^'' 
And in 1786, the Virginia delegation in Congress, with reference to 
the same subject, say — "The States who have ceded it, and the Confed- 
" eracy at large, look up to the u-estern lands as a substantial fund for 
" for the discharge of the public debt." 

The navigation of the Mississippi occupied a large space in the gentle- 
man's contrast of sectional liberality and illiberality. It is indeed, a 
subject of importance, and vastly more worthy of attention than most of 
those upon which he has expatiated. 

The specification of charge is, that in the year 1786, Mr. Jay, then 
Secretary of Foreign AfTiiirs, proposed the making of a treaty with Gar- 
doqui, the Spanish Minister, by which the navigation of that river should 
be relinquished to Spain for twenty-five or thirty years, in consideration 
of certain commercial stipulations for mutual interchange of commodities, 
by which all the productions of this country, with the exception of to- 
bacco, were to be received into the Spanish dominions. This proposi- 
tion was supported by the States of the North ; and the gentleman char- 
itably supposes, from a desire to deprive their fellow citizens of the West 
of that great highway, so essential to their prosperity. 

It is to be recollected that Spain, being then in possession of Louis- 
iana and the Floridas, most positively and peremptorily denied that we 
had any right to participate in the use of that river. Prostrated as our 
strength and finances then were, the country was not in a condition to 
enforce our claim by arras. Thus situated, it was apparent that we 



could have no immediate enjoyment of the waters of the Mississippi, 
and it was believed that the best mode of securing the future permanent 
possession of them, was to lease it for a while to the Spanish government 
for a valuable consideration : and that by assenting to such an arrange- 
ment, and holding it by our permission, Spain would unequivocally ac- 
knowledge our right, which would revert to us, accompanied by the 
possession, at the expiration of the stipulated term. And it was thought, 
moreover, that it would be dishonorable to the country to suffer a 
foreign nation to withhold it from us in a hostile attitude. It was also 
apprehended that Great Britain would unite with Spain in resisting our 
claim, and excluding us forever from the enjoyment of our right. 

These facts rest upon no doubtful authority ; they are supported by 
the disinterested testimony of high-minded and honorable men. actors in 
the scenes which they describe, and who, in 1788, were willing to do 
that justice to their associates which is now attempted to be withdrawn. 

General Lee, in the Virginia Convention, made the following state- 
ment : 

" 1 feel myself called on by the honorable gentleman, to come forward and tell 
the truth about the transaction respecting the Mississippi.'' " There are men of 
integrity and truth here, who were also then in Congress. I call on them to put me 
right, with respect to those transactions. As far as I could gather from what was 
then passing, I believe there was not a gentleman in that Congress uho had an idea 
of surrendering the navigation of that river. They thought of the best mode of se- 
curing it. Some thought one way. and some another way. I was one of those 
men who thought the mode which has been alluded to, the best to secure it. I shall 
never deny that it was my opinion. 1 was one peculiarly interested. 1 had a for- 
tune in that country, purchased, not by paper money, but by gold, to the amount of 
8,000 pounds. But private interest could not have influenced nie. The public 
welfare was my criterion. In my opinion I united private interest 1o public interest — 
not of the whole people of Virginia, but of the United States. I thought I was pro- 
moting the real interests of the people.'' 

Mr. Madison said — 

*' There were seven States who thought it right to give up the navigation of the 
Mississippi for twenty-five years, for several reasons, which have been mentioned. — 
As far as I can recollect, it was nearly as my honorable friend said; but they had no 
idea of absolutely alienating it. I think one material consideration which governed 
them, was, that there were grounds of serious negotiation between Great Britain 
and Spain, which might bring on a cealition between thos« nations, which might 
enable them to bind us on different sides, permanently withhold that navigation 
from us, and injure us in other respects materially. The temporary cession, it was 
supposed, would fix the permanent right in our favor, and prevent that dangerous 
coalition." 

For these transactions, as affecting the interests of the region beyond 
the Alleghanies, the gentleman has cast unmeasured opprobrium upon 
the North, and bestowed a corresponding eulogium upon the South, 
particularly Virginia. With what justice or candor may be seen, not 
only from what has just been stated, but from the facts which I shall 
hereafter adduce, and to which he has made no allusion. 

That a majority of the delegates from Virginia were opposed to the 
contemplated treaty, is unquestionably true ; but, is there not reasoD 
to believe that this was occasioned, in some degree at least, by the cir- 
cumstance that her great staple, tobacco, was not provided for ; espe- 
cially when we find that one of her most eminent citizens (Mr. Mon- 
roe) disapproved of it, merely for its commercial regulations. 



8 

But the delegation from that State, in the same year, 1 786, themselves 
])roposed to enter into permanent stipulations with Spain, by which we 
should relinquish forever , all right of transporting any articles up the 
Mississippi, from its mouth; and JVew Orleans should be nude an entre- 
pot, at which our produce, carried down the river, should he landed, and 
pay duties to the Spanish Crozi-n ; and a Consul of the United States 
there should be responsible for every violation of these engagements 1 
Now, Sir, compare these renunciations and sacrifices, to endure through 
all time, with the mere temporary relinquishment, for twenty-tive or 
thirty years, and let the candid and intelliiient declare which would 
have been most wise, and have best secured the true and permanent 
interests and safety of the Western country. 

But the comparison ends not here. There was a time when the 
Southern Slates, and Virginia with the rest, were disposed to make an ab- 
solute and perfeci surrender of all right to the waters of the Mississippi, 
but the JVorthern and Eastern States opposed it. It was at the period of 
the-ir greatest di-^tress, and for the purpose of obtaining succour from 
Spain. For this, we have the high authority of Mr. Madison himself, 
who says — 

" It was soon perceived, after the commencement of the war with Britain, that 
among the vnrious objects that would affect the happiness of the people of America, 
the navigation of the Mississippi was one Throughout the whole history of foreign 
negotiation, gieat stress was laid on its preservation, hi the time of our greatest 
distresses, and particularly -hen ihe Southi-rn States were the scene of war, the 
Southern States cast their eyes around to be relieved from their misfortunes. It was 
supposed that assistance might be obtained for the relinquishment of that navigation. 
It was thought that for so substantial a consideration, Spain might be induced to 
afford decisive succour. It tvaf opposed by Ihe Norltiern and Eastern States. T/ie^ 
were sensible that it might be dangerous to surrender this important right, particu- 
larly to the inhabitants oj the Western counlry. But so it was, that ihe Southern 
States were for it, and the Eastern States opposed it.'' 

And Mr Monroe, after speaking of the constant efforts of Virginia 
to preserve this navigation, sa\s — 

" There was a time, it is true, when even this State in some measure abandoned 
the object by authorizing this cession to the Court of Spain " 

It is not my purpose to censure those who advocated that surrender. 
They felt themselves constrained by the nece.^sities of the war. But 
the Northern States, more unyielding in their purpose, never despaired 
of the Republic ; tbey sent their own sons to fight the battles of their 
distant brethren, and freely furnished, from within themselves, that 
succour which others were willing to purchase from foreign hands, at so 
great a price — and now they are, even here, rewarded with contumely 
and reproach ! 

Such is the effect of partial or distorted views of distant events ; of 
resting upon insulated |)arts of remote transactions ; of seizing and 
following the mere shreds of history, which lead to error and injustice, 
instead of light and truth. 

By the terms of the treaty proposed by Mr. Jay, and which have 
been so much reprobated, Spain was to receive all the productions of 
the United States, with the exception of a single article ; and yet the 
gentleman has, some how. fallen into the error of asserting that the 
privilege was confined io fish and oil — which he several times repeated, 
adding, in a particular tone, " id est, from JS'ezv England.'^ Sir, what- 



ftrer the manner in which that gentleman may choose to allude to the 
fruits of their labor, it is not in hi? power to depreciate the merits or 
importance of our hardy fishermen — of that class of men who, with 
John Manly, in 1775, first unfurled the -American banner upon the 
ocean, and first caused the proud cross of St. George to bow to it in 
submission. 

Yet even the fisheries — the right which Heaven gave, wherever the 
winds would waft or the waves would bear us, which were deemed so 
highly of, that Mr. Grayson denominated them the cornfields of the 
East ; even these were so far abandoned that the Congress refused to 
make their preservation a sine qua non of a treaty, but authorised peace 
to be concluded without any stipulations for their security. Thank? to 
the wisdom and firmness of the Commissioners who saved us from that 
calamity. 

In January, 1803, President Jefferson nominated Robert R. Living- 
ston and James Monroe co-ministers to the French Republic, for the 
purpose of obtaining from the First Consul an extension of our rights 
on the Mississippi. Upon the question of confirmation, by the Senate, 
of the nomination of Mr. Monroe, there were fifteen affirmatives and 
twelve negatives. And this opposition is made food for accusation 
against the States of the Northeast, as evincing hostility to the objects 
of the mission and the interests to be effected by it. Yet, Sir, without 
the aflSrmativc votes which were given from those States, Mr. Monroe's 
uominalioD could not have been confirmed : for if you subtract the 
three votes which their Senators gave in favor, and place them in oppo- 
sition to the confirmation, there would have been but 12 for and 15 
against it. But on the same page of the Journal, and in the sentence 
next preceding the statement of the question of Mr. Monroe's appoint- 
ment, we find that the nomination of Mr. Livingston was confirmed 
without a division. The missioii and its purposes were thus unanimous- 
ly approved. The votes against Mr Monroe must have arisen from 
the conviction that the expense of a second minister was unnecessary ; 
and when we consider the ability of Chancellor Livingston, and the 
subsequent history of the negotiation, that opinion may not appear to 
have been wholly unfounded. On the same page, too, we find that Mr. 
Monroe was immediately, without a division, confirmed as Minister to 
Spain, in conjunction with Mr. Pinckney, the object of that mission be- 
ing also avowedly to secure and extend our rights to the Mississippi. It 
is strange, indeed, that these facts should have escaped the gentleman's 
scrutiny. 

When the Louisiana treaty was presented to the Senate, in October, 
1803, there were twenty-seven votes in favor of its ratification, and 
seven only against it ; and this, too, is made a topic of crimination 
against those on our side of the Potomac. Yet, of those yeas, one 
half were by Senators North of that river, and four of them from New 
England ; and, as it required two thirds to ratify, these four had it io 
their power to have rejected the treaty. Is this evidence of Northern 
hostility to the West ? Mr. Jefferson, in 1805, attributed the little 
opposition which did exist, to higher and purer motives — to a '' candid 
apprehension that the enlargement of our territory would endanger the 
.2 



10 

Union." And we shall presently see that there may have been other 
reasons also in accordance with bis own opinions. 

The gentleman inveighed vehemently against the North, for its al- 
leged opposition to the admission of Louisiana into the Union, the evi- 
dence of which was, that when the bill for that purpose was before the 
Senate, an amendment was proposed by Mr. Dana, providing that it 
should not take effect until the consent of each State should have been 
obtained. Yet this proposition was defeated by Northern Senators : if 
they had voted in the affirmative, it would have prevailed by a vote of 
eighteen to ten. The whole amendment of Mr. Dana consisted of two 
alternative propositions, providing that the act should not take eflect 
until the consent of each State should have been obtained, or the Con- 
stitution have been so amended as to authorize Congress to pass the act. 
A division of the question being required, a distinct vote was taken on 
the first proposition ; which alone seems to have been selected for 
special animadversion. i marvel much that the gentleman's vision 
should have been confined to one half of the amendment, especially 
when he was in search of motives, and they would have been clearly 
disclosed by a glance at the other half. Doubts were entertained of 
the constitutional power of Congress to admit Louisiana. And were not 
those doubts entitled to respect ? Is it not known that Mr. JelTerson 
himself, to whose opinions the gentleman bows with such profound 
reverence, repeatedly declared in his letters to Mr. Dunbar and others, 
that Congress had no such power; and, if 1 mistake not, Mr. Madison, 
in March, 1803, then Secretary of State, framed his instructions to 
Messrs. Livingston and Monroe upon the basis of this constitutional 
disability. He was so particular as to give a formula of some of the 
articles to be inserted in the proposed treaty, for the acquisition of 
Louisiana, one of which is prescribed in these words : 

*' To incorporate the inhabitants of the newly ceded territory with the citixens of 
the United States, on an equal footing, being a provision which cannot now be madCf 
i% is to be expected, from the character and policy of the United States, that such 
incorporation will take place ti'j7/iot// unnecessary delay. In the mean time they 
shall be secure in their persons and property, and in the free enjoyment of their re^ 
ligion." 

Here, Sir, our negotiators were unequivocally warned not only to 
make no agreement for the admission ol the inhabitants of the ceded 
territory into the Union, but to declare that such a stipulation could not 
then be made. By what was it prohibited except the limits of the Con- 
stitution ? And what was the tiecessary delay, but to obtain the requisite 
authority by amendment ? On the 1 2th of August, 1803, after the for- 
mation of the treaty, and before its ratification, Mr. Jefferson holds 
the following strong and explicit language, in a letter to Mr. Brecken- 
ridge : — 

*' This treaty must, of course, be laid before both Houses, because both have im- 
portant functions to exercise respecting it. They, I presume, will see their duty to 
their country in ratifying and paying for it, so as to secure a good which would 
otherwise probably be never again in their power. But I suppose they must then 
appeal to ttie nation for an additional article to the Constitution approving and con- 
Jirming an act which the nation had not prrviously authorized. The Constitution 
has made no provision /»r our holding foreign territory, still Less for iwcor- 
roRATiKG FOREIGN NATIONS INTO CUB UNION. The Exccutive, vi Seizing the 
fugitive occurrence \\h\ch so much advances the good of the country, Aate rfone an 
act against the Comlitution.^^ 



11 

It is hot my intention to enter into the argument or even to express 
an opinion upon the subject, but mrrely to show that it is not strange 
that seven Senators, or even a committee of the Legislature of Massachu- 
setts shouKl have doubted the existence of a constitutional power, which 
President Jefferson so peremptorily denied. 

The Missouri question has been invoked upon this occasion. It is 
not a correct representation to say that the North were opposed to the 
ndmissioti of that State ; they proffered her their cordial embrace. 
Hut they wished to exclude involuntary servitude from her limits ; and, 
believing it, as they did, most sincerely and conscientiously, to be a great 
moral and political evil, they were actuated by no feelings of unkind- 
ness ; but the purest motives of justice and benevolence, in endeavour- 
ing to secure what to them seemed a great blessing to her citizen?. That 
it was a disinterested effort, is attested by the Senator from South Car- 
olina, who declares it to be for their interest that slavery should exist 
at the South. 

As to the admission of Mississippi, the preparatory act authorizing 
the formation of her constitution passed without a division through the 
various stages in the Senate, until it came to the question of engrossment, 
to which there were eleven negatives. Those gentlemen might have 
thought the application premature. But I shall not stop to enquire into 
their motives, because I perceive among them the name of the venera- 
ble Macon, of North Carolina, who so recently occupied a seat here, 
and to whose successor, now near me, it belongs, to vindicate him from 
any aspersion upon his intention ; and also the name of an honorable 
gentleman from South Carolina, (Mr Smith,) now in his seat ; for whose 
conduct it would be presumptuous in me to assign reasons, he being so 
eminently able to answer for himself. 

The resolution for the final admission of that State was reported by a 
committee, on the 3rd of December, 1817, being the third day of the 
session, was forthwith, by unniiimotis constnt, read a first, second and 
third time, and actually passed on the same day, although any one mem- 
ber might have required its postponement. This shows how tar there 
was a disposition to retard her progress into full communion with the 
American family. 

I do not intend to exhaust the patience of the Senate, by following 
the gentleman through all the little, tritling incidents to which he has re- 
sorted to sustain his general position. Their importance and pertinen- 
cy may be illustrated by his thrice told story of an illumination at the 
surrender of Detroit, which flashed upon the world, for the first time, 
in the gentleman's speech. 1 have not been able to tind any one who 
ever heard of it before. [Here Mr. Benton spoke to Mr. S. in an under 
tone ] He now tells me that it was in a small village in New Hamp- 
shire. I doubt the fact ; but even ifsome individual there had the folly 
to put an extra candle in his window, is it to be gravely attributed to a 
general animosity of (he people towards their fellow-citizens, who were 
thousand of miles distant? 

Another matter of almost equal gravity, wa3 that General Hull, a few 
years ago, was actually invited to dine with some of his friends ; and the 
convivialities of the festive board are, by the gentleman's imagination, 
converted into the acrid hi^mours of inveterate hoatilitv- This ocaW" 



12 

Gnce took place loug since the lermlnatioii of the last war. Generat 
Hull had just then presented to the public eome new explanatory state- 
ments in an appeal well adapted to excite commiseration. Some per- 
son? who had known that veteran officer of the Revolution, in other and 
better days, listening only to bis own story, were convinced that he had 
been wronged. Their sympathy was excited, and they extended the 
hand of charity and friendship to sooth the feelings of his estimable fam- 
ily, as well as to alleviate his own sufferings and smooth his path to the 
grave. And this act of personal friendship and benevolence is adduced 
as proof that not only those individuals, but the inhabitants of x'tew Eng- 
land generally, are actuated by unhallowed passions of enmity toward 
others. After Aaron Burr's conspiracy, and subsequent to his arrest as 
a criminal, he was invited to a dinner at Richmond, and sat down at the 
same table with the Chief Justice, before whom he was soon to be 
arraigned upon a charge of high treason. Did any one ever imagine that 
this was to be charged as a state offence, for which the people of Vir- 
ginia were responsible ? Nay, may not circumstances have existed 
which would exempt even the individuals from imputation ! Sure I 
am that not the slightest shade rests upon the fame of that wonderful 
man, to whose intellect the most powerful minds, and to whose goodness 
the purest hearts, do willing homage. 

It has been broadly and strongly asserted, that " the North have from 
the beginning done all in their power to cripple and strangle the West;" 
and all historical facts, no matter how various or opposite their charac- 
ter, which pass through the alembic of the gentleman's speech, are made 
to yield the bitter spirit of Northern hostility. 

If the act be in any degree doubtful in its appearance, it is of course 
viewed in its most offensive aspect. And if it be one of unmixed wis- 
dom and beneficence, still its brightness Ls to be overshadowed by the 
ascription of impure and sombre motives. When the stream fertilizes 
and gladdens every thing in its course, still it may be insisted that the 
invisible fountain is corrupted and poisonous. At one time to decline a 
reduction of the price of the Public Lands, or even to require any price 
whatever, is crying and unheard-of injustice — the poverty of the people 
is pourtrayed to us in glowing colors — and we are told that we are grind- 
ing them into the dust by our exactions. But when we do reduce the 
price, or even relinquish existing debts, we are answered by the gen- 
tleman that no thanks are due to us ; so far from a favor, it is an offence, 
because it carries with it an implication of poverty and inability to pay, 
which should be repelled as an insult. Even the system of internal im- 
provements has, in his view, ceased to be beneficial to the West — nay, 
positively injurious. All its fruits have been blasted by the friendiy 
salutations of the Northern breeze. He tells us that if a road or canal 
be of any utility to a State, its benefits are to be measured only by 
the distance which it passes within her limits ; and thus the 1,721,845, 
dollars expended upon the Cumberland Road, this side of Ohio, although 
projected as a Western measure, urged as a Western measure, and 
adopted and sustained as a Western measure, is, in fact, only for the 
benefit of the East : But unfortunately for his argument, that East lies 
wholly on the South side of Mason's and Dixon's line. By this crite- 
rion, no matter what great avenues and markets are open to our 
citizens, they are of no value to them, if beyond the limits of their 



13 

own particular State. By this means, too, he charges all the work* 
for public defence, and improvement of harbors to the particular 
section in which they are located. He might have extended the prin- 
ciple, and considered a fortification to be for those merely who inhabit 
the little island upon which it is placed ; — or a light house, for the sole 
accommodation of its keeper, the only tenant of the rock where it stands. 
Sir, every man who produces or consume? any thing that is trans- 
ported alnnii our coast, or imported from, or exported to, any foreign 
country, is interested in these facilities to our commerce and navigation. 
If we owned not a ship in the United States, but depended solely upon 
foreigners for the vehicles of our commerce, still we must afford these 
accommodations, or pay more than their expense in the enhanced price 
of transportation, and rate of freight and insurance. Suppose we had 
adopted the gentleman's new criterion of the benefit of avenues of inter- 
communication, when we were securing the navigation of the Mississippi, 
that great highway of nature, and had said that the productions of each 
State may float upon its majestic current, to its own borders, but no fur- 
ther, and that even this privilege is to be extended to those only whose 
territory is actually washed by its waters ? Would this have satisfied 
the demands of the inhabitants, and secured to them the benefits which 
they now enjoy ? 

The gentleman undertook a comparison of the appropriations for the 
improvement of certain sections of country, but entirely overlooked the 
immense donaiions o{ Public Lands to his own favorite region, which, at 
tfie minimum price, have amounted to no less than nine million seven, 
hundred andjifty nine thousand Jive hundred and four dollars, as appears 
by a statement from the Secretary of the Treasury — an amount far 
greater than the aggregate of all the sums embraced by his enumeration. 
" The North," says the gentleman, have " from the beginning, done 
all in their power to cripple and strangle the West." Sir, before such 
an assertion was hazarded, all our history should have been dispassion- 
ately examined. It should have been recollected that of the old thirteen 
States, NINE -xere JVorth of the Fotomac — that in their hands was the 
whole W^estern country to be moulded at pleasure — that they could 
have sealed up the magnificent Mississippi, and devoted the immense 
regions upon its borders to beasts and savages ; or if populated, they 
could forever have refused to receive them into the American family, 
or extend to them the rights and privileges of American citizens. Even 
the five New England States, constituting, as they did, more than one 
third of the whole number, might forever have excluded Louisiana and 
Florida, and have rejected every treaty for enlarging or confirming the 
privileges of the West. The power of the North was ample, complete, 
and irresistible, over the whole region beyond the Alleghanies ; and in- 
stead of being employed to wither and destroy, it has been assiduously 
exerted to cherish, sustain, and strengthen. Its inhabitants were re- 
garded as children — bone of our bone — flesh of our flesh : their infant 
steps were sustained, and their path defended by the strong arm of the 
nation. We rejoiced in their prosperity ; the blessed fruit of our own be 
nignant care. W'e received them cordially to the full communion of all 
the inestimable blessings of free Government and Republican institu- 
tions, which had been purohasefl by the blood of our fathers. We part- 



u 

fed to them our inheritance — we gave them of our strength — we resign- 
ed to them our power. From bemg more than two thirds of the whole 
number, we have voluntarily, by our own generous acts, made our- 
selves a minority of the States. And now we are told — here, in the 
Senate Chamber of the United States — that "the North have, from the 
beginning, done all in their power to cripple and strangle the VVesI! ! !" 

Sir, I deeply deplore the cause, be it what it may, which can at any- 
time, or in any place, give birth to declarations of such a character, 
tending to alienate the affections, and poison the mutual confidence, of 
different portions of our country. 

Heaven itself has made them for union and happiness ; and man and 
woman might as Well quarrel with each other for the difference of their 
formation, as the great geographical divisions of our Republic, for the fea- 
tures and adaptions which their Creator has given them. 

Mr. S, said he would now turn his attention to some of the remarks 
of the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Hayne.) That gentleman, 
after expressing his regret that the controversy should become section- 
al, and, lamenting the supposed necessity of assuming an unfriendly at- 
titude, proceeded to present the Southern States and New England in 
hostile array against each other. He (Mr. S.) believed, that the re- 
sponsibility of giving the debate that character must rest principally 
upon the gentleman himself, for there had been nothing in any previous 
speech which called for the attack which he had made upon the North- 
eastern States. I, said Mr. S. will not follow tiis example ; but, as far 
as possible, consistently with my duty, avoid every unpleasant allusion. 
From my earliest recollections, I have been deeply impressed with the 
sentiments inculcated by the Farewell Address of the Father of his 
Country, in which we are taught "to frown indignantly upon the first 
dawning of every attempt to alienate one portion of our country from 
the rest," and to lament that geographical discriminations of Northern 
and Southern, Atlantic and Western, should ever occasion the belief that 
there could be any distinction of views or interest. 

But if these distinctions are insisted on by the citizens of one portion 
of our country — if the line of the Potomac is to be constantly drawn by 
those who live South of it, must they not expect that those who live 
North will sometimes remind them that there are two sides to that line? 
Or, if they point to a still narrower circle, and, making the six North- 
eastern States their line of demarkation, constantly allude to them in 
ungracious tones, must not New England of necessity assume a corres- 
ponding attitude, and poise herself upon her own energies ? 

Sir, we do firmly believe that we have exercised towards our distant 
brethren that "■ charitif which " suffereth long and is kind;" which 
"envieth not ;" which " vaunteth not itself ;" " doth not behave itself 
unseemly;" '* is not easily provoked ;" "thinketh no evil;" "rejoiceth 
not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth." 

The gentleman's attack upon New England has rested almost exclu- 
sively upon the transactions of the late war. If his only object had been 
to condemn certain measures of the leaders of a party there in opposi- 
tion to the war, I should not deem it necessary to make a single remark 
in reply. I resisted them to the utmost of my ability at the time of 
their greatest strength, and my opinions are still unchanged. But I can 



15 

assent to uo indiscriminate censure. If it was intended to fix any stigma 
upon the general character ot the people of New England, 1, although 
the humblest of their representatives here, feel bound to repel it. We 
have the explicit declaration of Mr. Monroe himself, then secretary of 
War, and since deliberately made, (hat the confidence of the Govern- 
ment in the People of Massachusetts, was never shaken for a moment. 

[Mr. Hayne explained, by saying that he never intended to cast any 
reproach upon the people of New England. That his remarks were 
confined to a particular party, which he had designated and described.] 

Mr. S. resumed. Although such were the ideas conveyed by one 
portion of the gentleman's speech ; yet, taken in connexion with his 
declaration of war, at its commencement, a different result would seem 
to follow. He at first regretted that the contest should be sectional, and 
then arrayed the South against New England as opposing sections of coun- 
try ; and having thus proclaimed the war by geographical lines, he of 
course assumed a hostile attitude toward the people of that territory 
which he assailed. Why should he regret the peculiar character of 
the contest as sectional, if it was merely one of old political parlies ? 
I am quite willing, however, to receive the explanation which the gen- 
tleman has just given, and shall omit some of the remarks which I had 
contemplated. If his only object, in entering (he territory of New 
England, was to thrust at the dead, or wave his sword in triumph over 
their graves, I do not envy him either the glory or the magnanimity of 
the achievement. But there are some topics to which I shall advert, 
because they have been treated in a manner calculated to produce an 
injurious effect, whatever may have been the purpose of their introduc- 
tion. 

The Hartford Convention has filled no small space in this discussion ; 
it is wielded as a powerful engine against the Northeastern States. 1 
remember it well, and have never spoken of it but in terms of decided 
condemnation. It had but few friends while living, and still fewer 
mourners to follow it to the grave ; and if its skeleton is now dug up, 
and held on high to the view of the whole nation, it will cast its shade 
upon a small part only of the fair surface of New England, 

The sermons of Osgood and Parish have been produced here, and 
inflamed passages read, avowedly as evidence of public sentiment, and 
the gentleman called the writers ** pious and good men.'' So do not I. 
Sir, they were infuriated fanatics, political madmen ; condemned by the 
sober-minded of their own party •, and I would as soon produce the 
outpourings of Bedlam as proof of public opinion as effusions such as 
theirs. 

The honorable Senator told us, with great emphasis, that the enemy 
vi?is permitted to establish himself, and to open a custom house upon (he 
soil of Massachusetts ; and so much reliance did he place upon this, as a 
cause of reproach, that it was reiterated three times in the course of his 
speech. It is most unjust. The people of that State, without distinc- 
tion of party, were at all times resolved to defend their territory, and 
prompt in resisting the approach of the enemy. The gentleman's allu- 
sion could not be misunderstood : it was lo the capture and detention of 
Castine, a small village situated on a little peninsula, on the eastern side 
of the Penobscot river, in the remote parts of Maine ; where the adja- 



It) 

cent ccmntry contains but a sparse population. It is connected with the 
main land only by a narrow neck, and is surrounded on its various sides 
by water deep enough to float ships of the largest class, which might, 
within point blank shot, command every part of the village. I verily 
believe that a large naval force might bring more guns to bear upon 
that place than there were men in it at the time of its capture. So 
situated, and destitute of the means of efficient defence, an overwhelm- 
ing British fleet captured and took possession of it. I would ask the 
gentleman what resistance he himself would have made^ Could he 
have withstood the batteries of that fleet with nothing but his sword or 
his musket ? The idea of successful resistance would have been mere 
fatuity. But it is said the enemy retained the place and opened a cus- 
tom-house. It was not taken until about the first day of September, 
1814, and the treaty of peace was signed in December of the same 
year, of which information reached us in February following. Could 
it have been retaken ? The British had there a large military and naval 
force. The neck which connects the peninsula with the main land is so 
low and narrow, that a canal was dug across it, and Castine was thereby 
converted into an island. All access to it was completely commanded by 
the guns of the enemy's fleet, and we had not a single ship to aid us : be- 
side which, the whole seaboard of Maine, for more than two hundred 
miles, and its numerous rivers, bays and inlets, containing millions of 
shipping, were constantly harassed by the enemy ranging along the 
coast, and requiring the presence of the militia at every point to repel 
his threatened depredations. And, even if the militia could have been 
spared for the enterprise, and it had been possible to recapture the 
place, the British might easily have taken possession of any of the nu- 
merous adjacent islands in the Penobscot bay, and carried on all his 
operations with great facility. 

Are we then to be repeatedly reproached with the capture of Castine, 
and that too here — in this Capitol — within these walls, which have but 
just risen from the conflagration of the enemy, and are hardly yet puri- 
fied from the pollution of hostile feet ; and having at this moment at your 
public navy yard here, a monument bearing an inscriptioB perpetuating 
the presence, and the barbarism of the British I And these acts done, not 
under the guns of their ships, but by a few thousand men marching 
fifty miles by land, through a population of two hundred thousand per- 
sons ; and you having here, in aid of the militia, a thousand regular 
troops, a public armory, and the brave little band of sailors command- 
ed by the gallant Barney ! 

The gentleman from South Carolina, himself, told us, I would not 
otherwise have alluded to the fact, that bis own State was completely 
overrun during the war of the Revolution. It was so indeed. The 
British considered it entirely subdued, and, for a time, held over it re- 
sistless sway. I mention it not as a reproach : it was inevitable. But 
that gentleman should have been the last to suggest the idea that the 
presence of an enemy upon the soil is a necessary impeachment of the 
patriotism or gallantry of the people. 

Maine, from its local position, was more exposed than any other State 
in the Union ; having Lower Canada on the north, New Brunswick on 
the east, and from two to three hundred mUCB of sea coast, which the 



17 

enemy commaniled, on the south. Slio owned one ninth pail of all thr 
tonniige of the United States, anil at the commencenieiil of the war there 
were not two hundred reguhir troops in the State. Her citizens did not 
wait to be sohcited, hut voluntarily tendered their services to their 
country, and three regiments were immediately organized, by which 
her territory was defended at all point*, until, in 1«13, all the troops 
raised for the defence of Maine, even those in the garrisons, were, by 
order of the Secretary of VVar, marched to the Niagara frontier. The 
British having a strong force in each of the adjacent provinces to the 
north and the east, and a powerful armament on the sea, were, by that 
withdrawal of the troops, tempted to annex the lower and unsettled 
parts of the country to their colony ot New Brunswick ; and, with this 
view, took possession of Casline, in September, 1814. It was imme- 
diately determined to compel the adversary to withdraw, by carrying 
the war into his own territory. An army of ten thousand men, com- 
manded by a distinguished citizen of Maine, was to invade New Bruns- 
wick, at the opening of the Spring ; and such progress was actually 
made, and with such zeal and alacrity did the people ofier their services, 
that it was well ascertained that the whole number of troops would be 
raised within the limits of Maine and New Hampshire. The peace 
alone prevented the plan being carried into execution ; and I hazard 
nothing in saying that had the invasion been made, with such troops and 
such a commander, it would have been no second edition of the cam- 
paigns of Hampton and Wilkinson. 

Notwithstanding all that has been said of the late war as derogating 
from the character of New England, I boldly ask, from what part of the 
country was it sustained willi more etlicient aid ? The gentleman telle 
us that money was withheld by a combination of all the banking interest. 
One bank, sir, in the town ot Boston alone, advanced the Government 
two millions of dollars ; and a single individual there a million more. 
The large amount loaned in the town of Salem, my Iriend trom Massa- 
chusetts now before me, (Mr. Silsbee,) xvhose ample fortune was en- 
trusted to his country, can well attest. Sir, without the hard money — 
not the depreciated paper of broken banks — but the gold and silver 
which the citizens of New England caused to be paid into the 'J'reasury 
from loans and the customs, your tottering credit must have fallen com- 
pletely prostrate And when clouds of despair lowered around you, 
and thick darkness enveloped your whole horizon, it was the gleams of 
glory trom the ocean that dispelled the gloom and illumined your path. 
That sun of glory arose in the East, and was lighted up by the Marmers 
of New England. You manned not a ship — you tired not a gun upon 
the lakes or upon the ocean, without the aid of the sons of New Eng- 
land ; and in every battle upon the water, they poured out their blood 
u) your defence. Upon l.md, too, their achievements were unequalled. 
Those who, having voluntarily tendered their services, were not per- 
mitted to defend their own hornet, but marched to the frontiers of New- 
York, constituted the regiment whicij well earned their expressive ap- 
pellation of the hloodij unUk — whifli etood alone against twice their 
force of British veterans, whil-t hall their own numbers h.id fallen n|>on 
the tield ! They composed, too, the twenty first regiment, which, at 
the battle of Niagara, by a desperate effort, in face of n blazing battery 

3 



18 

of deadly artillery, took the eminence which it-conamanded, and nieeting 
the foe -nan to man, repulsed ;iniJ defeated him in successive onset>, and 
destroyed forever the boasted invincibility of ihe British bayonet. 

I would not have inquired what service South Carolina rendered 
durin^; the war, bad not the Senator from Missouri, in contrast with 
the East, made it a theme of praise and gratitude. When he introduc- 
ed that topic, I was, indeed, somewhat curious to hear his enumeration 
of her exi)loits — and what were they ? W'^hy, Sir, that she sent her 
able and eloquent representatives to raise thoir voices in Congress. I 
trust that I fully a[)preciate their services, and that no one is naore cor- 
dially disposed to award them their full measure of honor or gratitude. 
But I believe that the enemy would rather that we should have sent 
thousands of our most eloquent orators, to make their most eloquent 
speeches upon the floor of Congress, than to have met the single crew 
of that frigate which compelled the haughty and boastful Dacres to 
strike the flag of the Guerriere, and bow in submission to Isaac 
Hull. 

When the gentleman from South Carolina spoke in terms of commen- 
dation of the merits and exertions of the. republicans of the East, I 
was relieved and gratified. I supposed that he was willing to embrace, 
within that description, all who cherished true republican principles. 
But what was my astonishment when he afterwards narrowed down hie 
description, and confined his approbation to (he few who united \vith 
him in the last Presidential election. He told us that the " democracy 
of New England" had alzn-ays acted with the South — not only in the 
war of 1812, but "in the civil contest of 1828," that it was then, as 
now, the ally of the South. This is, indeed, restricting our republi- 
canism to very narrow limits — by the test of the electoral votes, to one 
fiftieth, and by any other just criterion, to a small part only of the peo- 
ple. And thus veterans of the democratic party, those who sustained it 
in the darkest times, and have been ever true to their principles and 
to their country — who were its fearless and unwavering champions, 
during embargoes, non-intercourse, and war, are now denied the name 
of re|)ublican, because they have dared to think for themselves, as to 
the qualification of a candidate for the Presidency, and bowed not 
down to the idol which others had set up. While, on the other hand, 
some of their most violent opponents, even aiders and abettors of the 
Hartford Convention, those ultra federalists, who opposed Mr. Adams 
because their unforgiving spirits could never forget that he had once 
left their party, are received into full communion and cordially embraced 
by those who claim to be, by their own appointment, exclusive guar- 
dians of pure, pri'nitive, unspotted democracy. 

The gentleman seems to have no other criterion of republicanism 
than adhesion to the South. Not the assertion of principles, but devo- 
tion to Southern men. He told us, in so many words, that " the South 
had made JS'ew Ejigland," and it seem^ that, in his view, those only are 
of thp true faith who will bow down and worship this new Creator. 

A very cousiderai^le portion of the Speech of the Senator from Mis- 
amun was devoted fo a comparison of the liberality of the North and the 
South, and he yesterday reminded us that, in the last election of Presi- 



19 

dent, there was but one vote in all New England for the Southern and 
Western candidate 

Since he iias chosen himself to introduce this test of sectional disin- 
terestedness iitid ni.igiiiinimity, let us bestow upon it a moment's atten- 
tion. The uhole number of votes whicli have been given for Presi- 
dent in the electoral colleges since the organization of this government 
has been two thousand and nineteen, of which nixe only have beea 
thrown, in all the States South of the Potomac, for candidates residing 
north of (hat iivcr, viz one in Virginia and one in North Carolina m 
1796; four in North Carolina in 1800; and one in Illinois, and two in 
Louisiana, in 1824. While, during the same period, the States North 
of that river have given no less than aeven hundred and nineteen votes 
for Presidential candidates living South of it. 'I'hey have supported 
Southern men three times unanimously; at another time with but a single 
disseniing vote ; in another instance with but six ; and again by a large 
majority. 

Upon those facts I make no comment. 

The subject of slavery, incidentally touched by the gentleman from 
Massachusetts, (Mr Wel)ster,) has been taken up and dwelt upon with 
great zeal by those who followed him. It is a topic of such delicacy 
and difficulty that I have always abstained from referring to it in debate; 
and others from the North have, very generally, practised the same 
forbearance. 

1 have deeply lamented that the sensitiveness of the slaveholding 
States should have been so often operated upon, out of this House, to 
produce unkind feelings and unj'ist accusations against their brethren. 
AVe have been told that it can aUvays be made a bond of union w poli- 
tical r. arfare, and 1 much fear that the cry of hostile designs to their 
rights and property has been too often rung as an alarum to rally the 
whole slaveholding population in one array against those who hive 
never indulged an unfriendly thought. 

The people in the Nortii do undoubtedly condemn slavery in the ab- 
stract, and deeply deplore its existence in our country ; but they have 
not the remotest intention of di5turl)ing this domestic relation, by- 
thrusting themselves between the mastei and his bondmen. 'J'hey 
know that, as the institution actually exists, they have no right, by the 
Constitution, to attempt to overturn it; that to do so might dissolve the 
Union ; and that their interference, so far from relieving the slave 
from bondage, would probably aggravate his condition and rivet his 
chains more firmly. 

The gentleman has spoken of the prejudices of the East. Sir, what 
he has thus denominated are disinterested, pure, benevolent, and ele- 
vated principles. They wish indeed that their friends of the South 
could be relieved from what they deem a great moral and political evil ; 
but they are aware that the remedy is to be found and applied by those 
only among whom the evil exists, and have no disposition to touch it 
with inexperienced hands. 

Had the gentleman been content to express, in general terms, his 
approbation of involuntary servitude, and his exultation at its existence 
I should have made no reply. He might even have insisted, as he did, 
that it added to the physical strength of a country ; although I cannot 



2a 

well understand liow withdrawing one half of the whole population from 
the contest can strengthen the common iirin in the hour of battle ; and 
although such was not the opinion even of Southern statesmen after the 
experience of the revolution. Mr. Aladison, in 1788, ^aid, *' what 
parts of the United Stales are most likely to need protection. The 
rveak parts, Zi.-hich are the Southerii States.'" And again, •' It was said, 
and / believe with truth, that every part of America doe* not stand in 
equal need of protection. It was observed that the Northern States are 
most competent to their own security." 

But the gentleman has chosen to make this very topic the ground of 
a comparison degrading to the republicanism of the East. He asserted 
that from the possession of slaves there had always been a greater love 
of liberty in the South than in the North ; and rested his assertion upon 
the authority of ftir, Burke. What kind of love of liberty is it which 
Burke says is generated and fostered by the institution of slavery ? He 
says that to slaveholders liberty is not only an enjoyment, but " a rank 
dud privilege, ^^ and subsequently speaks of their '^haughtiness of domi- 
nation.^' 

Who does not perceive that this love of liberty is but the love of rank, 
of power, of absolute and uncontrolled dominion, and that too over 
their fellow men, extorting from them the most abject submission^ 
It is the same love of liberty which is possessed by the privileged clas- 
ses — the aristocracy, in other countries — an attachment to their own 
immunities, to arbitrary control and domination over others, and impa- 
tient of all restraint upon themselves. 

Let it be remembered that this delmeation is not mine, but was fur- 
nished by the Senator from South Carolina. If I had imputed such sen- 
timents to any portion of our country, I should have felt myself obnox- 
ious to the charge of unkindness. 1 trust, Sir, that he has done him- 
self and his friends injustice ; and that such is not the democracy of the 
South. It was not that of Mr. Jefferson, as is shown not only by the 
proposition against involuntary servitude which he made to the Old Con- 
gress, but by the general tenor of all his political writing. 

It is not the democracy of jN'ea; England. We have heard, in this de- 
bate, of the oligarchy and aristocracy of New England ; and they are 
so often spoken of elsewhere, as terms of general ajjplication, that I 
tear very erroneous opinions are prevalent, as to the character and in- 
stitutions of that people. 

I thank the Senator from South Carolina for reminding us of the op- 
pression, which drove ourforelathers from their native land ; for I de- 
light to recur to the patriarchal founders of Massachusetts — the Puri- 
fans— who, for the enjoyment of civil and religious liberty, left their 
country, friends, civilization, plenty and security, for exile in a wilder- 
ftess, across a world of waters, exposed to every suffering, and every 
danger; those indomitable spirits who would yield to no usurped do- 
minion, but resolved to live free or cease to live. When they landed 
upon the Rock of Plymouth, it was with the Bible in their hands, and 
its precepts in their hearts, and they laid deep the foundations of a 
Christian Commonwealth. From the sacred volume they imbibed the 
true spirit of all our institutions ; the native equality of the human race — 
fbrraed of the same materials— fashioned by the same hand— animateV? 



2i 

by the same breath— and destined to the same grave. Do unto other* 
as ye would that they should do unto you, was, to them, the impressive 
command by which Heaven itself placed all mankind upon the common 
level of moral right and mutual obligation, and declared that " man was 
not made the property of man." 

They acted upon the principles which they professed, and constitut- 
ed one society of equals and brethern. As their numbers increased and 
Hpread over a greater area, it became impracticable for all to unite in 
transacting the public business at one place, and they therefore formed 
territorial districts, of convenient extent, by some called townships, but 
there denominated toa-ns, which continued to be multiplied as population 
advanced. These to-wns were then, and are still, throughout New Eng- 
land, pure democracies, in which the whole people, in their original 
sovereign character, assemble at one place, to order their own business 
in their own Wiiy, each free man having an equal voice, and every man 
being free. In these primary assemblies they choose their own agents, 
prescribe their duties, call them to account, and censure or approve as 
their conduct may seem to deserve. They raise money, direct its ex- 
penditure, and order and control all measures of general concernment. 

Here, too, are supported our Free Schools — an institution unrivalled in 
the history of human Education, by which children, of all classes, are 
brought together upon the basis of perfect equality, and receive instruc- 
tion from the same source, without distinction or partiality. The 
funds for the support of these Schools are annually raised by vote, in 
the primary assemblies of the towns, where the poor man, having per- 
haps a dozen children, but wholly destitute of property, has an equal 
voice in determining the amount, and its appropriation, with him who 
has hundreds of thousands, and is childless. The sums, thus ordered, 
are ilirectly assessed upon property. The annual amount, in my own 
State, is not less than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. A sys- 
tem more perfectly democratic in its immediate character and ultimate 
tendencies, was never devised by man. It is upon this broad foundation 
of universal instruction that all our political institutions rest : It sustains, 
too, our Colleges, our Acadamies, our Hospitals, Asylums, and all those 
benignant charities, whose streams extend to the uttermost regions oi 
the earth. 

I thank the gentleman, too, for his reference to the American Revo- 
lution. He told us that the South had no ships, nor commerce to cause 
them to re?ist Great Britain. Sir, that resistance was not for ships and 
commerce merely, but against the principle oftaxalion without represen- 
tation, which extended equally to all the colonies. It was the claim of the 
Imperial Parliament, to " bind us in all cases whatsoever ;" and, if we 
had not resisted, thev would have bound our infant iriant limbs in fetters. 
And Massachusetts has the enviable distinction, that glory of which 
nothing can deprive her, to the end of time, of having been the first to 
make this resistajice, alone and unaided, in defiance of the whole power 
of the British Em[)ire. Lord North himself declared, on the floor ol 
Parliament, that Massachusetts alone was to blame ; that,? but for the 
ovil example of her violent opposition, the obnoxious tea would have 
been every where else quietly received ; and that she should be visit- 
ed with exemplary vengeance, And Col. Barre, who has been some- 



22 

limes called the friend of America, declared, that her conduct, as the 
prime mover of all the disturb inces, had been so repreliensible, that 
the Boston Port bill, which was mtendi^d to reduce thDUsanil--; to starva- 
tion, was a measure of mercy. While another member thundered forth 
against Massachusetts the anathema which wns notlongsince uttered in 
the other end of this Capitol against New England, " delenda est Car- 
thago." 

The true character of a people is best ascertained by their conduct at 
those times when rising against ofjpre«sion, and absolved from the re- 
straints of law — thev are a law unto themselves. With this view look 
at the destruction of the tea by what has been called a '' Boston mob." 
They assembled in the night, went on board the ships, hoisted the 
chests upon deck, and poured their contents into the sea, with the order 
and regularity ot an ordinary business operation. No other article of 
property was touched, not an act of violence committed ; but when the 
work was done, the multitude who had assembled to witness the scene, 
quietly and peaceably retired to their respective home;. 

Smce gentlemen are fond of introducing their reminiscences, they 
will mdulii;e me in another exemplitication of the conduct of an educa- 
ted, moral, fearless, republican people. After what has been denomi- 
nated the Boston massacre, an event calculated to inflame the multi- 
tude to the highe-it degree of excitement, when, as the historian tells 
us, they seemed utterly regardless of personal danger, and immovable 
by the bayonets of the soldiery — did they resort to tumult and outrage, 
to conflagration and bloodslied ? No. They assembled in to^'n meeting, 
chose a committee of citizens to require of the royal governor the re- 
moval of the troops. When they came into his presence, he was sur- 
rounded by his high officers, civil and military, and spoke in such lordly- 
language as became the viceroy of a king. •' They must go :" was the 
firm and laconic reply. Seeing this spirit, and lowering his tone, he 
attempted to compromise, by ofl'enngto send away one regiment. The 
Chairman, tLe venerable Samuel Adams, fixing upon him his piercing 
eye, and stretching forth his tremulous hand, exclaimed, " all or none, 
Sir." The mock majesty ofai titicial creation shrunk before the native 
dignity of true republjcanism — the mandate was obeyed — the troops were 
removed. 

Such were the people who constituted the militia that foaght the 
battles of Lexington, of Bunker's Hill, and of Bennington. "This 
night," said a Grecian commander to his soldiers, " we shall sup with 
Pluto " .'\ speech which has been thought worthy to be handed down 
to us through many centuries. How immeasurably more elevated and 
touching was the simple address of the gallant Stark to the husbands and 
lathers, b\9 neighbors and/rie?u/s. whom he commanded at Bennington — 
" There are the enemy — we conquer them, or this night Mary Stark is 
a ai'c/oa.'." 

I shall not attempt to enumerate the worthies or the achievements of 
New England — time indeed would fail me to delineate her character, or 
speak of her services. They stand out in brilliant colors upon every 
page of your history. She may be followed through every section of 
our country, by the blood -I'ld exploits of her sons — to your own native 
South Carolina, where Green and Sullivan fought, " and Scammel fell"— 



23 

to the West, where their bones rest on the battle grounds of St. Clair's 
ilefe.!!, and of Harrison's victory. Every valley is vocal with the voice 
of her children — her blood stvells every vein of this great republic — 
her fame is reflected from the whole bright surface of this wide spread 
and mighty nation. 

I glory in such a blessed parentage, and in the brotherhood of her 
hardy, educated, enlightened, virtuous, generous, brave, republican 
popnlation. 

With deep felt gratitude I reverently thank God that, of all places 
upon Mis earth. He gave me my birth in the land, and among the de- 
scendants, of the Puritan Firgrims of New England. 



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